Battle Royale
by Oceansportrait
Summary: Fourty two grade nine students are placed on an island with one order: to kill each other off until only one remains. As some form teams, and others go off on the task alone, their relationships and trust in themselves and their friends are put to the tes
1. Chapter 1

Kiriyama casually wiped the drying blood off of a hand knife he found embedded in a dead student, the knife making a wet slushing sound as it was pulled out of the forehead. It was most likely only a few hours after the student's death, because the flies had yet to discover their meal. Whoever killed her must have murdered her in panic, her weapon was still in her hand, clear in view for anyone to see. He closed the knife back in its case and proceeded to hide the weapon in the back of his shoe. Bending over the body, he snapped the stiff fingers one by one to release the crossbow the corpse held with a death grip.

Near her shoes were trailings of blood, a sign she tried to struggle to get up and fight with her opponent. He searched for any weapons she may have hid, but found nothing. Most of the bodies who he'd come across were the same thing, they only possessed their own weapons. They weren't even playing the game, simply useless beings running back and forth until they no longer lived.

A slight rustle from the bushes behind him, and he checked his weapon hidden in the sleeve of his jacket. Another rustle, and the sound of a branch breaking. Was this person an idiot? Anyone with normal hearing could hear the commotion he/she was making. The person hiding didn't have a gun, or a long-range weapon, or else they would have tried using it already. Instead of an easy kill, Kiriyama chose to crouch down, pretending to tie his shoes. Another sound, heavy breathing, and the smell of sweat mixed with fear.

A step, another, and another. Faster, speeding up with each step until the last few metres were made with a dash. In the moment when the opponent was directly behind him, his gun slid into his hand, and he turned, releasing the bullet with deadly accuracy. The bullet dug itself in, making its home between the man's eyebrows. Hardly any blood came out of the wound, the student must have been in too much of a shock.

The student's weapon, surprisingly, was a gun. He held down the wounded student's arm with his leg, picking up the gun and opening the end to check for bullets. None. What had he been planning to do, kill him with a bullet-less gun? The saneness of the plan escaped him, there was no logic in attacking someone with a useless gun.

Hooking the empty gun to the back of his belt, he loaded a new magazine into his weapon, and aiming the gun to the boy…

He released the trigger.

**_Boy #5 Yoshimi Dead._**

7 more to go.

Motobuchi tripped over a jagged rock standing upright from the ground, managing to regain his balance even with the amount of items he carried in his camouflage-colored shoulder bag. Raising his black-rimmed glasses to a higher position on his nose, he glanced back to where Satomi walked a few steps behind him.

Since the incident in the hideout, he hadn't exchanged a word with Satomi. His chest was still stinging from the bullet. Without the vest, he would have been killed, but instead he was left with what was probably a massive bruise which would only serve as a disadvantage when he had to face the others.

"Hey Motobuchi," a weak voice spoke. When he glanced back with a questioning look, Satomi shrank back, her footsteps slowing so that an even larger distance formed between them. A few seconds passed without Satomi continuing, so he asked, "What?"

"Why didn't you kill me back there?"

"Huh?" He stopped, causing Satomi, who had her eyes firmly affixed on the ground, to bump into him. She raised her vision with a puzzled expression.

"I used you as a shield from the bullet, and on top of that, you killed Yuki."

The vision of her friend crumpling to the ground flashed past her eyes, causing her to involuntarily wince. Motobuchi switched the bags' weight to his left shoulder, his hand closing and opening over the shoulder strap.

"She…had a knife in her hand."

"What?" Her eyes widened at the statement.

"While she was hugging you, she had a knife aimed at your lower back. She was going to—"

"Liar! Yuki would never do that!"

Tears welled up in her eyes. She had known Yuki since she was in elementary school, they had gone through the insecurities of middle school and high school together, Yuki was her closest friend. She knew Yuki, no matter what happened, she could trust her. They would have found a way out together.

Motobuchi grabbed the sides of her arms, slightly shaking her. "She tried to kill me, and she would have killed you too—"

"No." Shaking her head furiously, she tried to release herself from Motobuchi's grip but it was in vain.

"I know she was your friend, but people in situations like this do things that are out of their character—"

"How would you know? You've never even talked to her! She would never have been able to kill me!"

He suddenly did a 180 degree turn, pulling her in the direction of where the hide-out they had left half an hour before.

"What are you doing?" She dug her heels into the ground, the dirt collecting and leaving dents in the ground as she resisted.

"If you want to deny the truth, then I'll show you the truth. I'll show you the knife she still has in her hands—"

"Let me go—"

A bullet slicing through the air cut their conversation short, the bullet lodging into Motobuchi's chest, or rather, the center of his bullet proof vest.

"Shit.." He whispered under his breath, looking up to where the bullet came from. His eyes finally focused on a distant figure, dressed in a white shirt and shorts…with long hair? A girl? He shoved Satomi behind a tree as another round was fired. The person was coming closer by the second. She would have accurate firing range within 40…no…35 seconds. They had no time to waste.

"Listen Satomi, if you don't believe me, fine. But right now, whoever's heading our way has murder on her mind, and you'd be putting your life and mine on the line if you choose to still argue with me right now. We're going to run further into the woods on the left, don't say anything, just run. Understand?"

She nodded numbly, her hands trembling as she squeezed his upper arm to let him know she would follow his instructions. She said nothing as he threw her bag into the opposite direction they were heading. Gripping onto her hand tightly, he ran towards the left, weaving back and forth in case the person chose to randomly fire into the woods.

He had taken the time to memorize the map earlier while he was in his hideout, and he had a fairly good idea of where he was. Noting the landmark of a fence, he turned a sharp right. There was a small opening about a five meters ahead, they would be able to skid down through the opening to reach the lower level of the mountain. Without knowing that path, it would be near impossible for whoever was coming after them to get close enough to shoot, even if the person knew where they were.

"Can you see the narrow gravel path between the two bushes, they lead to the lower section of the mountain. Go through there, and once you reach the flat surface about 10 meters down, turn right."

"What about you?"

"I'll catch up with you. Now go!"

She nodded fearfully, disappearing into the bushes. As soon as she was out of sight, he unzipped his bag, drawing out fishing lines wrapped around a spool. He had confused the shooter as to which direction they had run when he threw Satomi's bag in the opposite direction. And because they had turned quite a few times in different directions, it would take even longer for her to find them. His hands shaking with nervousness, he unwrapped the string, tying ends together on different trees around neck level. With luck, the person would be running, and if she ran through one of the trees he strung the fishing line across, the invisible string would create a deep cut into her neck, perhaps enough to kill her.

Satisfied with the work, he put the spool back into his bag and ran to catch up with Satomi below.

"Was that…"

"A gunshot."

Nanahara finished her sentence for her, screwing the cap back onto the water bottle. There had been a few gunshots heard from their hiding place, some closer than others. His 'weapon', a Global Positioning System, allowed him and Nakagawa to head in the opposite direction whenever a student was getting too close in their direction. He had no idea what to do aside from running away, Nakagawa would probably end up dead if they encountered those with guns because she wouldn't have the heart to fight back. Then again, fighting back against a gun would be a pretty difficult task in itself.

"What are we going to do…it won't be long before there are so many danger zones that we're trapped in one section of the island…"

"We'll figure out what to do when the time comes."

"But then it'll be—"

"I SAID—" His voice trailed off. Holding his head, he pulled on his hair with frustration. The situation they were in right now, wasn't Nakagawa's fault, so why was he talking to her as if she was? It wasn't anyone's fault. This game… "…I'm sorry Nakagawa."

She shook her head, "I'm sorry too. Everyone's emotions are barely balancing on a thin-line, I shouldn't have doubted you. In this game, I can't afford to doubt anyone, because their idea could turn out to be the one idea that could get us all out of here….off this island."

He nodded, feeling a little better about the situation, knowing at least he was with someone he could trust.

"I'll study the map again, to see if I can get any clues as to where we could go."

Tracing the outline of the map with the pencil provided in the plastic bag, he drew borders along the danger zones to match up with the GPS image. Shading in the areas that were off-limits, he left the safe-zones unshaded.

"Hey Nakagawa…"

"Hm?"

"What weapon did you get anyway?"

Nanahara had his back to her, bent over the map with concentration. He didn't know why the question hadn't hit him earlier. If she had a gun, they might have better chances of surviving. Or maybe a knife? He had a pretty good throw, and the knife he had with him had to be left behind because he couldn't get the knife out of the skull. Maybe…

The sound of flesh meeting steel and an intense feeling of pain swept over him. He felt dizzy…and strangely a little sleepy? He looked down to the center of the pain, and what he saw…was the end of a knife that went through his body from the back. His blood collected around the knife and dripped, dripped, off the tip. Where did…

A strong need to cough, and he complied, watching as what he coughed up turned out to be blood. His own blood. The red substance like saliva, flowed from his mouth, the liquid dribbling down his neck.

"Nakagawa.."

She embraced him from behind, the action causing the knife deeper into his flesh. He winced, biting his lip hard enough to bleed, from the pain. She leaned her chin on his left shoulder, whispering "It'll end quicker if you didn't speak."

"Naka..gawa.." What was she doing…

"Thank you Nanahara. For saving my life before."

She released her hold from him, slowly turning the knife, the ripping sound of human flesh mingling with the sound of her feet digging into the dirt ground. Blood swam across his khaki jacket, making the wound seem larger than it was. Just a little more…. He involuntarily began to shake, the map and pencil rattling to the ground in a bloody mess.

…And she withdrew the knife from his back.

"Motobuchi" Her word came out only as a whisper, and if he hadn't been as alert as he was he would have missed her. Satomi was hiding behind a bush, near the base of the trail he told her to follow. He grabbed her roughly by the arm hissing, "What the hell are you doing? Didn't I tell you to run?"

"I couldn't leave you there by yourself just so I could save myself."

"Idiot, are you trying to get both of us killed!" His eyes kept on wandering to the path where he had come from, praying that whoever had been chasing them was caught in one of the traps he had set.

"That's not what—"

A rustle in the far left, behind the bushes between the trees caused both of them to freeze.

Kiriyama followed the sound of the gunshots, even though they were coming from far away, he felt confident he would be at the scene before the shooters left. Or shootER, the bullets were all coming from the same type of gun. The gunshots subsided, and he was only left with his sense of direction to lead the way.

The weapon he acquired earlier would be of no use. The knife would be a risky weapon to use up against a person with agility, because even with the aim that he has, it would be difficult to pierce any critical body parts on a moving body.

A emotionless smile crept to his lips, the image of the girl he had run into earlier running past his mind. The bullets he had heard came steady and with experience, it had to be her, none of the others remaining had that kind of ability. Finally, a person who would give him a good time without dying on him as easily as the others.

Motobuchi swore to himself internally. It had been a mistake to come down this path, the girl with the gun must have been down this path earlier and knew it better than he did. They were dead now, they were going up against someone who had a weapon that could kill from afar, while all they had was…a cookie cutter and a bullet proof vest that wouldn't protect Satomi because he was the one who wore it.

He pushed down on Satomi's shoulder, hiding her behind the bushes. The killer already knew someone was there, but perhaps she hadn't noticed Satomi yet. He would run in the opposite direction giving time for Satomi to run and…His eyes widened. It wasn't the girl with long hair. It was….Nakagawa. And what the hell was she doing holding a bloody knife…

Nakagawa hadn't noticed their presence, so he crouched down beside Satomi, placing a finger to his lips as a sign for her to be quiet. She nodded. He pointed to a clearing to the west of Nakagawa and held up three fingers, signaling they would make a run for it in three counts. Three…Nakagawa picked up a couple of grass roots and wiped the blood as best as she could from the knife. Two….she placed the knife into its holder on her waist. One…she turned away….and RUN.

Motobuchi no longer cared that he and Satomi were making a racket as they ran through the forest, his camouflage bag hitting his leg over and over as they placed further distance between them and that part of the mountain. They collapsed, with their backs leaning against each other near a stream, their breaths coming out in short gasps. He gulped in air, wiping the perspiration from his face. After the first 20 meters or so, he no longer heard Nakagawa's footsteps behind them. And even if she did manage to catch up now, he didn't have the energy to run any further. He unzipped his bag, taking out a handkerchief and dipping it into the stream. Wringing out as much water as he could, he handed it to Satomi, who looked as tired as he did.

"Do you…think…we lost her?" Satomi asked, closing her eyes as she placed the fabric onto her face to cool off.

"I don't know…maybe."

"She was shooting at us before, I wonder why she didn't use her gun when she chased after us."

That was when he realized Satomi still thought the person chasing them was the girl with the gun, not Nakagawa as he knew. And maybe it was better that she didn't know. He had seen Satomi talking to Nakagawa a few times in school…

"Yeah…I wonder why."

Tbc….


	2. Chapter 2

"I knew I'd see you again."

Mitsuko Souma smiled, pointing her gun directly at Kiriyama's forehead. She had been entertaining Motobuchi and Satomi in their little cat-and-mouse game, but she could finish them off later, this seemed much more interesting. Kiriyama was the other student who killed off a majority of the students, making her job that much easier. And by killing him, she might as well guarantee herself the winner, the others would be easy kills.

Kiriyama held up his hands, showing he held no weapons that would be used to try to harm her.

"Drop the knife." She knew he still had the weapon in his possession, she ran into him only a day before, and had it not been for an interruption, her head would have been cleanly decapitated from the rest of her body.

He slipped his hand into his school uniform jacket, producing the knife and proceeding to drop it to the ground. He kicked the knife, sending it clattering to her feet. She bumped the weapon with the back of her shoe, the knife disappearing into the bushes.

"Now the gun."

"What gun?"

Her expression never wavered, and neither did her aim to his forehead with her gun. Her hands never shook as she hissed, "I know you have a gun. I saw the aftermaths of most of the deaths, they were by gunshot. And I know you killed at least half of them. Now drop the gun."

Kiriyama's eyes studied her carefully, a slight look of fear passing his expression. He felt uncertain. If he gave up his gun, she would still have hers. But he didn't have a choice, he would have to figure out what to do afterwards. He took the gun out from the back of his belt, the gun hooked on the belt of his trousers. He then kicked the gun to her, which she picked up, unlike the knife.

"I thought you'd be smarter than that. Giving up a gun that easily, well, it does make my job a lot easier." She shoved her gun into her back pocket, releasing the safety lock on the gun Kiriyama gave her. Her smile widening, she says to her last words to him, "Bye-bye Kiriyama."

Mitsuko pulled the trigger. Once…twice…three times…yet nothing. She pulled the magazine out of the gun

…and saw there were no bullets inside.

She didn't have time to move as a spray of bullets hit her, two on the shoulder, one to her waist, another in her stomach. The assault never stopped, a fresh set of bullets passing through her body every time she took a step towards him. That bastard…he had another gun from the very beginning…he was just playing with her, as she had tried to do with him…except in her case, the plan backfired.

Her bullet ridden body fell with a thud.

**_Girl #18 Mitsuko Souma Dead._**

6 more to go.

Motobuchi took off his khaki jacket, unbuttoning his white shirt.

"What are you doing!"

He released the two straps binding the bullet proof vest to his body, unzipping the side as well. He lifted the vest above his head, and held the defense item for Satomi to take. "Take it."

"I can't, this is your vest.."

"If you get hit, I'll most likely have to leave you there if I want to stay alive. If you wear this, at least even if you're hit, it'll only leave a bruise. I can probably get hit with a few bullets and still manage to stay alive for this last couple of hours."

"But—"

"Do you want to stay alive or not?"

She stared at the vest silently for a few seconds, reluctantly nodding. He helped her to secure the vest, then proceeded to button his shirt and shrug into his khaki jacket which was stained with blood, mud, and the hardships of the past two days.

Motobuchi unzipped his bag, sliding the cookie sheet out silently from his bag. Satomi looked at him with a questioning gaze, which he answered with one finger to his lips and the other hand pointing to a bush about 10 feet away. She realized what he had been referring to when she heard a faint coughing sound, one wracked with pain, and it sounded as if the person was throwing up.

He handed his bag to her, giving her the only copy of the map they had left since he had thrown her bag before to confuse the shooter. Pointing to a specific location on the map, he quickly outlined the route she should take. And with that she turned away and was about to break into a run when a hoarse voice called out, "Wait."

Motobuchi gripped the cookie sheet, holding it with both hands and ready to bring it down onto the skull of any person trying to attack. He parted the bushes away to reveal the person whose voice the words belonged to and was about to hit the person until he saw the shape the other student was in. "Nanahara!" The student was collapsed on the ground, the wound from his back not showing any signs of slowing. The putrid stench of yesterday's meal brought up wafted in his direction, almost causing him to gag.

A long stick lay at Nanahara's side, and a bloody trail leading to him. Nanahara must have dragged himself, leaning on the stick. For how long of a distance he wasn't sure, though it couldn't have been too far, with the condition he was in, Motobuchi was surprised he could even have the strength to walk. But he knew that Nanahara was an athletic student who excelled in all the sports clubs he had joined. Now, the only question left was…who could have injured such a student.

"Naka…gawa." Nanahara coughed, bringing up blood that he wiped away from his face. He wasn't quite successful, because blood still left in its remnants at the corner of his lips.

"What?"

"Nakagawa….stabbed me…I had…to warn others…"

"How'd you find us?"

Motobuchi asked, helping Nanahara to lean against a tree.

"This…"

Nanahara pulled an electronic device from his jacket, passing it to him. A GPS device, no wonder. This was a great weapon, because it enabled the owner to know the presence of the other person without that person's knowledge. If only he had this, he could…Motobuchi handed the GPS device back to Nanahara.

Nanahara gave a half-smile, noticing Motobuchi's reluctance to give the device back. "It's all right…you can..keep it."

"But with this you can—"

He laughed, a laugh which turned into a cough that shook his whole body. "Do I look like…I'll last a few more hours…? I'll be an easy kill…I'd rather someone who deserves this….had this." He pressed the GPS into Motobuchi's hand. "So keep it…all right?"

He nodded, giving the GPS device to Satomi so she could place it safely into his duffle bag. Motobuchi glanced in Satomi's direction briefly before turning back to him. Nanahara had given this to him, his only weapon, and the least he could do was tell him everything he knew. "Nakagawa was chasing us, about twenty minutes before you showed up."

A sharp intake came from behind him. Now Satomi knew that the student who had been chasing them wasn't the long haired girl with the gun. It was Nakagawa.

If Nanahara was surprised, he showed no signs of it. He shifted his shoulder to rest on a lower section on the bark, giving a half-hearted smile saying, "You know, if she hadn't done this," he clutched his stomach as another wave of pain set in "I would have died protecting her. I would have gladly died for her. I never thought she could do this—" Motobuchi looked down to see Nanahara's right hand clenched. Nanahara's emotions were revealed through his voice as he said, "I would have died for her—out of my own will."

Satomi stepped out from behind Motobuchi, leveling heads with Nanahara and touching his wrist. "Don't give up, we can try to find a way out of this place together. You protected Nakagawa the best that you could, now, it's your time. Now, it's your time….to protect yourself."

Nanahara shook his head, drawing his wrist back so that Satomi was no longer touching his arm. "I can hardly…walk, I'm not in….any condition to try to…..escape the island."

"He's right." Motobuchi stood up from his crouching position, looking down at Nanahara and Satomi. "We'll have to walk miles in the next few hours, we can't have him dragging us down."

She rose back up, glaring at Motobuchi, "How can you say that? Nanahara gave us the only weapon he had and we're going to just leave him here!"

"Now isn't the time…to fight. The two of you…should know…that. Maybe it was the fight with Nakagawa…that made her want to do this…but in the end…it just meant she couldn't trust me. Go. The others might have….followed the path I walked….through because of the blood. I don't want either of you to die….because of me…NOW GO!" Nanahara pushed Satomi away from him and into Motobuchi's direction.

"Nanahara,"

She had tears in her eyes as she reached Motobuchi. Nanahara had been betrayed by the person he trusted most, and now, he was going to die like this, alone. There was nothing she could do, and no words of comfort she could think up. All she could say was:

"Nanahara, thank you."

He nodded, giving them the first real smile they had seen from him since the game started. He held his hand up in a peace sign, and that was the last time she saw Nanahara alive.


	3. Chapter 3

Nakagawa laid low as she navigated through the endless bushes and trees of the small forest. She had heard gun shots nearby, and was able to escape in the opposite direction before the shooter caught sight of her, but not before a bullet caught her in the left calf. When the bullet hit her, she bit her lip to keep from making a noise of pain. The first few meters were almost impossible to walk, the pain unbearable, but now, with her only handkerchief tied tightly right below her knee, the pain numbed enough so she was dragging the left leg.

First Nanahara, and now the leg. She listened to the 12 noon announcement, and Nanahara hadn't been among the dead. She could have sworn he wasn't moving when she checked his pulse. And of all the stupid things she had done in her life, forgetting to take the GPS was one major mistake. She wasn't even sure which direction she was walking in, she could be walking in circles for all she knew.

She grabbed a nearby stick, digging it into the dirt to climb up a small pathway she found earlier. It was a steep walk up, but if she managed to reach the top, the others probably wouldn't think to follow. The stick buried itself midway into the ground, but it slid, causing her to grab a hold of anything near by. The prickly pines of the tree were all she could hold onto, and deep cuts formed throughout her palm. Cursing softly, she tried again, and this time with all her strength, she managed to pull herself up onto the ground higher up. The task left her breathless for a few moments, but she eventually got to her feet again, abandoning the stick in favor of a sturdier one.

The GPS, her leg, and now her hand. How could things get any—she cried out when something sharp slit her cheek, the wound opening to dribble blood down her face and onto her white shirt. She stepped back a few steps and reached out gingerly in front of her. A wire. Grabbing the wire, she followed it to the tree it was tied to. Someone had purposely set up this trap. If she had been running she could have been seriously injured.

Wincing, she touched the wound on her cheek. Her hand returned blood covered, the wound must have been deeper than she originally thought. Unzipping her bag, she took out a shirt she was going to change into during the field trip until this happened, and tilted her water bottle to slightly wet a tip of the fabric. Holding it up against her cheek she proceeded on, ducking under the wire and moving with her hand out in front of her in case there were more wires set up.

Nanahara…she wasn't initially planning on killing him, but she had to survive. She had to be the winner that could go back to society. Even if it meant…

"Nanahara…"

A hand clamped over her mouth roughly, and because it was so unexpected she couldn't move, in shock. She struggled, but the familiar metallic click against her skull convinced her otherwise. A weapon….anything…to fight back. This person was obviously serious, if she didn't do something NOW she would die. There was no doubt in her mind, she had to take action. But with what…

She thrust the walking stick she was carrying with all her strength into the attacker's stomach. When the student's grip on her was released, she jumped onto his back, navigating the stick to across the person's neck. She pulled, trying to crush his neck with the wood, and it was taking its toll on the attacker because he dropped his gun, choosing instead to struggle to get the stick away from his neck.

She fell to the ground with a thud when he kicked her left leg—her injured leg.

"I have to be the winner, I have to win—"

Nakagawa limped towards him, not making any move to run even when he regained his composure and retrieved his gun.

Two gun shots to the heart and she collapsed where she was, her left leg still bleeding with an open wound as well as her hand and cheek.

**_Girl #09 Nakagawa Dead._**

5 more to go.

"Would you stop it already?"

Motobuchi turned to her irritatingly, referring to her crying. She'd been acting like this for the past half hour since they had left Nanahara. The announcement would come in another hour and a half, they'd find out then if Nanahara had survived. He felt just as frustrated, not being able to do anything but leave him there after Nanahara had given his GPS to them. But it was the right choice, no, it was the only choice. Dragging around an injured person and trying to survive without even a decent weapon would be their death call. They might as well go on the interphone and announce that they're willing to die and anyone who wanted to kill them should step forward.

"I can't believe we left Nanahara there…"

"Are you saying we should just get killed along with him for the sole purpose of letting him live a few extra minutes?" He snapped.

"How could you say that. Nanahara—"

He exhaled, letting his senses calm down. He shouldn't have said what he did, Nanahara was the one to give them a weapon that would prove invaluable to them. The least he could do is talk about him as if he were a decent person.

"Look, I'm sorry. But do you realize that it's close to 6pm already…we only have six hours to midnight. Six hours until the end of this game."

Satomi quieted, catching on to the hidden meaning of his words. It was six hours until the end of the game, but it also meant six hours until their possible deaths.

"We have to figure out a way…find a boat somehow, or find a way to steal one of the helicopters we saw those men fly here with. Nanahara would want us to find a way out of here rather than spend time thinking about him." Motobuchi added the last sentence in, knowing Nanahara was thinking along the same lines when he refused Satomi's offer of coming with them.

They'd been running in the opposite direction of the other students mapped out on the GPS, but the danger zones filled almost the entire map, there was little they could do before all except one box on the map were danger zones. Then, there would be nothing they could do. They had to figure out their plan by then.

The island sounded eerily quiet. It had been two hours since they last heard gunshots going off on the island. They took turns carrying his bag, now that Satomi's bag was no longer with her. But it was obvious both were exhausted from the two days without sleep, and the bag wasn't helping the case, it was heavy mostly because of the textbooks he brought with him on the "field trip". When it came to his turn to carry the bag, he dropped it on the ground, unzipping it to take out the books.

"Motobuchi..?"

"It'll be less of a baggage to carry without these around." He slung the bag off his shoulder and lifted the textbooks, with its familiar titles of Calculus, Biology and Physics. He could easily get the books replaced, but giving it up here, in this game, felt as if he would never see them again. Until now he lived each day studying, always studying, to get into a good high school, then university, then a high-rank job. He had never socialized much with the others in his class, he always thought of them as lower beings because they spent their times going to karaoke or just hanging out. He was always living for tomorrow, and to think that tomorrow he worked so hard for might never come.

But he had to believe, that there would be a next day, and days after it. If he didn't, how could he convince Satomi, and how could they survive.

"There's no need to carry around these books. They're worthless here."

"Are you sure you want to do this? …I don't mind carrying them."

He shook his head, dropping the books off behind some bushes. "I can always buy new textbooks when we're out of this place by tomorrow."

She offered a weak smile, "Still planning on going to that elite university?"

"It's only what I've been working towards for my entire life." He returned her smile with a grin of his own.

The familiar classical music playing over the intercom cut their conversation short. Motobuchi walked a few meters in the direction of the nearest intercom to be able to hear clearer their teacher's announcement. Satomi trailed behind. Glancing back at the books lying piled up on the ground, she picked one up, unzipping the bag and burying the book underneath the other items. With the task done, she quickly caught up to him.

Taking out the map, which had all except 5 squares crossed out in danger zones, so they could record the next set, they both listened.

"The dead students will be listed in the order of their deaths: Yoshimi, Souma, and Nakagawa. Only three dead this time."

Satomi looked at Motobuchi with surprised eyes. Nanahara was still alive. He nodded silently, and pointed to the map, indicating her to not forget about recording the danger zones.

"—there is only six hours left in this game so do your best! Only one survivor can be left at the end of this game, or all your collars will detonate. Good luck and I'm looking forward to greeting the winner of this year's game!"

"….Nanahara's still alive." Satomi whispered, more to herself than to Motobuchi. Softly, so he wouldn't be able to hear, she added "He's probably still in the place where we left him, and he's still hurting." She couldn't say that to Motobuchi though, because although she hated to admit it, he was right. Having Nanahara with them could hurt their chances for survival. If only….

Motobuchi kept his eyes on his map, trying to appear busy as he said, "If we find a way to get out of here, and if Nanahara's still alive by then, we'll come back for him."

He glanced up briefly to see her reaction.

She smiled.

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

Nanahara tried to shift his shoulder so it rested into a deeper grove of the bark but gave up when he realized he had not enough strength to lift his arm slightly let alone lift himself the few inches to the right. He had heard Kitano's announcement—it wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say he felt weight lifted off his shoulders when the announcement ended without either Motobuchi or Satomi among the dead.

The next danger zone would include the area he was in right now. He guessed another 45….no, 40…at times like this he wished he could turn his wrist a little to at least have the dignity of knowing when his death would be so he'd be prepared for it. But even the Gods couldn't grant him that wish. But when the time came, Mimura and the others would probably hit him over the head yelling at him for being late, as always.

He laughed at the scene that came together within his mind—him and the others playing basketball in heaven. He wondered if he'd have wings and they'd be floating across the clouds, bouncing a basketball made of white cloud. He wondered if everyone would have the same faces or if faces even existed. Damn, he knew he should have watched that one show about life after death that Nobu had been obsessed with. When he had asked why Nobu found it so appealing, his reply was, "you never know what might happen so might as well know what happens when it happens" He had laughed it off then because Nobu's explanation made no sense at all, something about too many "happen"s.

Wiping the trailing blood from the side of his mouth, he adjusted himself the best he could from sliding from the clumsy sitting position he was in. His walking stick had fallen to the side, but close enough to reach. It would have to be his weapon. He preferred a knife or a gun but it would have to serve its purpose.

Each cough set his lungs on fire. It felt as if a needle edged fist held an iron grip around the organs. As the minutes passed, slowly as it did, he caught himself drifting off several times, always bringing himself back by biting the sensitive skin inside his mouth. He spit the blood that flowed from the raw flesh. Trying to concentrate on staying conscious, he focused on his hand, slowly folding it into a fist, then back again into an open hand. Repeating this exercise, he lifted his arm. Shaking, unstable, but he kept his focus, closing his fingers over the rough bark of his walking stick.

Gripping the wood firmly, with everything he had, he swung the weapon behind him. It came into contact with flesh, and eventually bone. The unexpected hit had been fatal. He recognized the sound of wood snapping as bone cracking from the time he had broken his leg during a soccer match. A spray of bullets went overhead him, which were probably very likely aimed at him and would have hit their target had it not been for his unexpected move.

The hit came to him as a surprise. He hadn't sensed anyone behind him, but perhaps this was the sign for him to get a move on. He wasn't sure how much time there was left until his and his attacker's collars would detonate from being in a danger zone, but there probably wasn't much left. If he could hang on, keep the attacker busy until the collars did their job, it would give Motobuchi and Satomi a better chance of surviving. He couldn't just lie here and wait for death to come, he had to do something.

He swung the stick so strongly, after hitting the attacker it spun a few feet away from him. Dragging his weight, he reached. Almost there….an injured foot blocked his path to the wood, and the other foot came down on his wrist, the sole grinding down. He winced. He could feel the bones giving away, they were going to break. With his free hand, he grabbed as much dirt as he could and flung it upwards, a spray of soil and grass hitting the student's eyes. Once he felt the sole slightly letting out its pressure, he pulled his wrist back. Taking the extra feet he needed to reach the stick, he grabbed it and aimed for the attacker's injured leg.

The student fell back, the hand gun clattering to the side. Nanahara kicked it further into the woods. He couldn't murder a person, he couldn't hold a gun to the person's head and release the trigger. So all he could do was keep the deadly weapon as far away as he could, and keep the person down until the time came. The attacker came at him with force, wrapping his thin fingers around his neck. Tightening his hold, he brought the stick up to the other person's stomach, digging the object in. As the student fell back, Nanahara coughed, the blood from his lungs dripping.

The attacker rose to his feet, and dragging his broken leg behind him, he made an attempt to head in the direction of the fallen gun. Nanahara reached out and grabbed the attacker's injured leg, making him fall to the ground. A beeping sound, like an alarm clock going off, began. Was this it? Was this the collar about to detonate? His grip tightened around the attacker's leg, closing his eyes, concentrating. The student beat down on Nanahara's head heavily with his other leg, trying to free himself, trying to stay alive, but his arms would not come loose. As the pace of the beeping accelerated, he held on, even though he could feel the effects of the assault to his head coming on.

_Motobuchi, Satomi, hang in there._

The beeping became louder, louder…louder…

_**Boy #23 Nanahara Dead**_

_**Boy #14 Kawada Dead**_

_**3 more to go.**_

"He's dead."  
Satomi looked up at him. "What? I couldn't hear you."

"Nothing."

Motobuchi slid the GPS location to their current part of the island. He had been observing the locations of those farther off and had noticed the two blinking dots were now gone. They were located in the very part of the island he and Satomi had left Nanahara. There was no way Nanahara could have moved out of the section. But he couldn't tell this to Satomi. They needed to keep their focus to the end goal, and the end goal only. There was time for regret later, but not now. Not when there was only one person left that they had to go against. The end of the game, and being able to go back to society was so near, but it would be another four hours. Four hours.

He glanced up at the sky. The gathering clouds and the darkening didn't feel like much of a good sign. It would rain soon.

He had seen the helicopters that had transported the students onto the islands leave the island forty-five minutes earlier. They must have left from the other side of the island, because when he had seen the small black dots in the sky, he had first mistaken the flying objects as birds. But he quickly dismissed the thought when he saw they were moving in a straight line, not like birds who swayed back and forth to keep in sync with the wind.

With the hope of somehow getting control of one of the helicopters and leaving the place gone, he had begun to consider the possibility of boats because it was obvious that their teacher was still on the island, as was others accompanying him. He hadn't seen any boats tied to the shore on the other side of the island, perhaps they had their boats hidden underneath the cliff, out of sight.

He gripped the rocks of the edge and leaned in as far as he could to try to catch a glimpse of the underside of the cliff. But the angle was too sharp, he couldn't see farther than a few meters, not enough to see if there really were boats hidden at the base, or if there was nothing except the crashing of waves against the curved rocks.

Motobuchi turned to Satomi. "I'm going to try to climb down the cliff to see if there are any boats. Can you keep watch and come down if I find any?"

He handed her the GPS which was concentrated on their area. It was clear for the time being of the third person's presence. If he walked a bit farther down along the cliff then he'll probably be able to find a dent in the cliff which he could climb down to, and somehow make his way to where he suspected the boats might be. Satomi would be all right, she had the GPS, and the bullet proof vest.

He pointed to the two blinking dots on the screen. "We're here. If you see another red dot coming into the screen any time while I'm gone, run. Run in the opposite direction he's heading. Leave me here, I'll be down by the cliffs and he won't be able to see me. Don't stay here and wait for me like the first time, got it?"

Satomi nodded uneasily.

"Satomi, this is important. I'll be fine. But you won't be unless you RUN."

Motobuchi could see her hands which held the GPS turn white. He understood her fear but she had to know waiting for someone who would be safely hidden from the attacker would be of no use. He received her reply a few seconds later with a more confident nod.

"Okay. Remember—"

"Keep an eye on the GPS and run if I have to." Satomi finished his sentence for him.

He grinned and gave her the thumbs up sign.

He started walking along the edge of the cliff, trying to find a place where it wasn't steep enough that he could step down. Finding a good place about 10 meters from where Satomi was, he glanced back at her. She had the GPS in her hand, observing it carefully, but upon noticing him looking her way, she waved to let him know she was on task.

Step by step. The cliff was much higher than he had expected. And it was taking him much longer to make his way past even the first few meters. He had to look below to make sure each footing was stable before slowly lowering himself further. The rocks were sharp, but not as sharp as they could be, because the waves had eroded some of the rock's edges.

With each move he made, he glanced over to his right to see if he could see the outline of a boat, a shadow, anything to indicate there was something more than waves and rock. He was sweating profusely, because of the strain of having to keep himself from falling by holding onto slippery rocks and because of the knowledge that they had a limited amount of time left. If there was nothing down there, they would have to start from ground one and they would need all the time they could get.

Holding onto two sections of dented rock, he leaned back further, craning his neck to try to spot the boats.

His hands slipped.


	5. Chapter 5

The red dot blinked. Again. Again. And again. The last ten minutes had consisted of her concentrating on the lone two blinking dots in the middle of the GPS screen. There was no sign of the other person. She switched the screen from the right to the left, but she couldn't see anything other than the dots representing them.

She placed the GPS down onto the ground, and folded her knees and tucked them beneath her chin. The wind felt cool, and for this she was a little thankful, because it gave a chance for her to feel the sweat and dirt in her hair to dry.

It was hard for her to believe they'd made it this far. She wasn't particularly athletic, she wasn't good with confrontations, and she knew she would be too afraid to go against another person one on one. And yet she'd outlived the others who had every quality she didn't which were important to survival. Luck was certainly one part, but sitting here, watching the ocean with the silence of the island, it made her feel more afraid than she felt when there were many other students still alive, and it made her wonder if that luck was only false hope that lead her to believe they would survive.

Even if she did manage to go back to normal civilization, what then? Would she still go back to school, enter the tenth grade, as if nothing was wrong? Would she be able to do that? After seeing everything she had on this island, would she be able to pretend as if this was all just one bad dream?

The problems and worries she had before coming on this trip seemed so irrelevant and unimportant now. Being carefree, going shopping with friends, joking around with her sister, all the things she'd enjoyed until now, she wasn't sure if she would be able to feel the same level of happiness going back.

What about her parents? Her family? Did they know she was going on a trip like this? Did they know the government was making them kill each other? She tried to think back to the day of the trip but she couldn't remember her parents acting any different. They were still smiling. Her mother had even handed her a wrapped bento box, telling her to go and have a good time. Was that all an act? Did they just know and did nothing to save their daughter? What about her little sister who was a year younger than her, did she know too?

Why was the government making them do this? What had they done so wrong that the adults felt the need to punish them in this matter, by making them kill each other?

This wasn't the first Battle Royale. To the contrary, the government had been doing this for years. She had even been faintly aware of it, because of the news coverage it received, but she never paid much attention to it. Hundreds of kids her age had been getting killed, year after year, and she had done nothing. And now, here she was on the island. Like the others. And this time, it was she who faced possible death.

She wanted to go home. Feel the softness of her bed sheets, experience the feeling of safeness again. She wanted to go to school, go shopping, joke around with her sister. It didn't matter whether it would be the same as before or not. She would try to go back to normal life. Try. That would be all she could do.

A yell coming from the bottom of the cliff startled her from her thoughts. She quickly stood up, running over to the edge of the cliff, seeing if she could see any sign of Motobuchi. There was none. She walked farther along the cliff, but still, nothing.

"Motobuchi." She whispered, but the waves crashing against the cliff muffled her voice. Cupping her mouth, she repeated his name in a slightly louder voice.

Had he fallen in? Maybe he had edged too close to the waves and had gotten carried away? What was she going to do? She rushed back to the camouflage bag they had been carrying and emptied out the contents but there was nothing. Two bottles of water, some stale bread, a map, a cookie cutter, the textbook…nothing she could use. Throwing down the contents in frustration, she went back to the cliff, trying to see if the extra few minutes that passed had been enough for Motobuchi to regain his composure and climb back up to reassure her he was okay.

But there was only silence. She called out his name a few more times, but he didn't reply. Walking back and forth along the edge, she tried to look over the sharp angle to see below. She couldn't see anything more than a few meters ahead. Not enough to see Motobuchi, wherever he was. Feeling panic rising, the possibilities of what might have happened to Motobuchi ran through her mind.

Perhaps he had slipped and fallen into the water? Perhaps he had just scratched his hand on a rock and he was really all right, but he couldn't hear her calling out to him so he didn't reply? Perhaps he had already drowned during the time she was panicking about what to do?

And then it hit her. The GPS. It kept a track of all the people on the island, but it didn't keep track of anyone who died. Because she had seen the GPS in full view before and only a few dots remained. Of course. Going back, she clutched the GPS in her hand, and taking a deep breath, centered in on the area she was in right now, close enough to see the blinking dots.

He was still here. But this time, the GPS screen showed not two, but three dots.

A small object swished past her head. She turned, and the GPS clattered to the floor and her skin lost its color.

He had told her. To keep her attention on the GPS.

"…Kiriyama…?"

The student had his handgun leveled to her heart. She didn't have time to react before he fired. One, two, three shots. She crumpled to the ground, her hair covering her face. Her chest felt as if it were on fire, but she was still alive. The bullet proof gun had saved her, but he was going to notice something wasn't right when no blood showed through. Through her stray hair, she watched him bend down beside her, and pick something up.

The GPS.

He was going to know Motobuchi was here. She grabbed his leg, and the GPS flew out of his hand in surprise, going over the edge of the cliff. She clutched her head, bracing herself for the bullet that wouldn't miss killing her this time. But there was none. She opened one eye, and slowly looked up.

Kiriyama had drawn his gun back to the hook on his belt.

He grabbed the back of her shirt, forcing her to stand up. What was he doing? He couldn't….her question was answered when he pushed her over the cliff. The wind bit her ears as she fell, and she couldn't take a deep breath before hitting the water. The cold liquid was a shock to her senses, and she choked, struggling to stay afloat. Her clothes were dragging her under. She took off her jacket, letting it float away in the current, and tried to swim towards the cliff.

Her swimming became even more frantic when she heard the distinct sounds of bullets flying over her head, piercing the waters behind her. The bullet proof vest wasn't going to save her when he was aiming for her head. The current was going to push her under for the second time when she felt rough hands grabbing hold of her arm and pulling her in.

Her knees hit the ground with a thud. She coughed, the water she had been forced to swallow when she had fallen in coming up in small spurts. She clutched her chest. It was still burning from the gun shots earlier. The bullets had now subsided, and they were alone.

"Where…are we…?"

"A cave probably." Motobuchi answered, "I found it when I slipped on the rocks."

Her heart was slowly returning to normal, and she felt slightly calmer. Surveying her surroundings, she looked up at him questioningly.

"No boats, I know." He said bitterly. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I…heard you yell out when you fell and I thought something had happened to you. I was trying to find a way to find you and I..."  
"It's okay, it was my fault for not letting you know I wasn't hurt." He noticed her holding a hand to her heart. "Did you get hit?"

"Yes…but I'll be fine." She shivered slightly. When she had fallen into the waters, her panic had erased any feeling of coldness she would have otherwise felt a few seconds in. But now, with the waves hitting the rocks, spraying her with cold water, and the wind making its way into the fabric of her shirt and skirt, she was freezing.

He took off his jacket, and handed her the clothing. "Take your shirt off and wear this instead. It's better if you keep the bulletproof vest on even though it's wet. You'll probably still be a bit cold, but at least this'll keep you a bit warm."

"But what about—"

"I'm going to go search a bit deeper to see where it leads to." He cut her off, facing his back to her and venturing in to the darkness.

Motobuchi touched the rough wall, feeling for the rocks as he ventured a few steps in. He found only darkness. It really was a cave. The only exit was the one they were standing in now. If Kiriyama caught up to them here, they had no chance. He had a machine gun, and what did they have between the two of them? One soaked bullet proof vest. The rest of their items had been left at the top of the cliff. No food, no water, not even the useless cookie cutter. Now, he would have been grateful to even have that.

He came back to where Satomi was standing. She had changed into his jacket, and she was wringing the excess water from her shirt.

"We have to get out of here."

"Why? Kiriyama must have thought he killed me, because he stopped shooting."

She folded up the shirt and tucked it into a pocket in her skirt. It would dry quickly once they'd reach land, and just as soon she could give him back his jacket. Even though he had not let her ask the question, she knew he was just as cold as she was. He had gotten soaked saving her.

He shook his head at her suggestion. It wouldn't be that easy. Kiriyama, although he hardly ever showed up to class, was an elite who he could never beat in studies. The guys he hung out with weren't bright, but there was something different about him. There was an unnatural gleam in his eyes he always found threatening. No, Kiriyama wouldn't just assume he had killed Satomi. He would come down to find proof.

There was a reason why Kiriyama had made it this far, and it wasn't because of luck.


End file.
